One of the biggest questions we get about Tyler’s big ride?
The answer? Anything and everything -- literally. To keep himself going efficiently, Tyler will have to consume about 6,000-8,000 calories per day. Chew on that for a minute. But, like we said in our last post, every single thing Tyler needs for his journey has to fit -- on his bike and on him. So gourmet meals? Savory snacks? Some guilty pleasures? They, simply, don’t have a spot in this race. He is not carrying a stove to cook food either. Back to the big question, though: what’s he going to eat? Maybe a dead possum he finds on the side of the road. Maybe a stop or two (or 10...or 100…) for delicacies like roller dogs under the heat lamps at gas stations or beef jerky at convenience stores he passes. Maybe a couple foot long Subway sandwiches he loves so so much to shove in his jersey pockets or any other food he can get wrapped and eat en route. And sometimes? Sometimes he won’t indulge in any of it -- sometimes he’s going to have to take a deep breath, a big guzzle of water and HAMMER!! When he gets hungry -- and really needs a nosh -- Tyler has assured us he’ll have some snacks in his bags, including loads of peanut butter, spam, tuna, nuts, jerky and some sugary gummy candy. Gotta love that high fructose corn syrup!
From talking to Tyler, it’s clear he’s banking on his H2O supply to keep him hydrated and curb some of that hunger along the way. With four different bottles in tow -- two 24 ounce bottles mounted on the bicycle fork, a 1.5 liter bottle mounted on the downtube, 3 liter Camelbak and another 3 liter collapsible bottle stored in his frame bag for backup. -- he’ll be hauling more than 13 pounds of water with him. That’s not nothing!
Leading up to the ride, Tyler was burning lots of calories and wound up getting too lean -- not ideal for a race of this magnitude. He’s been bulking up ever since, with a healthy, balanced diet 2.0 -- a real racing diet that’s helped him maintain his strength and stamina while preparing him for what’s ahead. And that diet? It includes steel cut oats, donuts, lots of fruit and vegetables, double portions of a balanced dinner, ice cream, more donuts, more ice cream and he even told me he drank a quart jar of maple syrup because he just couldn’t resist. It does not include alcohol -- Tyler hasn’t had a drop in five months and counting.
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